Migration Minister to Meet Midwife Student Over Visa Row

A family threatened with deportation by the Home Office is to meet the Scottish Minister for Migration thanks to an intervention from Joan McAlpine MSP.

Ms McAlpine, SNP representative for South Scotland, was approached by Dami Samuel after her ambitions of training to become a midwife were sunk by the UK Government.

The situation has caused a great deal of strain for Dami and her family. Dami’s young brother John, 12, won the hearts of BBC viewers when he featured in the documentary Breadline Kids earlier this year. Ben Macpherson MSP, Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development, asked to meet the family to try to help publicise their case and put pressure on the Home Office to grant them leave to remain.

Ms McAlpine said:

“The way Dami and her family have been treated is appalling. Here, what we see, is an ambitious, hardworking young woman. A woman who wants to dedicate her life and career to our NHS – helping people – and she has been left out to dry by the UK Government.

“Dami has lived here since she was 12. To turn around now and say you are no longer welcome – forget your dreams – is an abhorrent way to treat someone.

“While the Home Office drag their feet, Dami and her family cannot support themselves. They cannot work, they cannot claim benefits.

“I will continue to pursue every available avenue in order to help Dami and her family carry on their life here, in peace. I am grateful to the Minister for giving his time to hear Dami’s story.”

Nigerian-born, Ms Samuel, 20, secured a place to study midwifery two years ago before the Home Office refused to renew her family’s visa.

This has caused the Samuels great hardship as they have been legally prevented from working or from claiming benefits to sustain themselves. The family has been mainly relying on the support of local Dumfries charity First Base.

Due to the family’s protracted appeal process, Dami has been without her passport, taken by the Home Office, and unable to work. She has filled her time with local volunteering.

The Samuel family initially came to the UK on a work visa 7 years ago. Dami’s mother, Christiana, who worked as a carer for the elderly, later had her visa revoked. She applied for ‘leave to remain’ but the delay in answering her appeal has left the family in limbo.

To make matters worse, Dami’s place to study midwifery on a study visa was also revoked.

Ms McAlpine has been campaigning for the Home Office to grant the family’s leave to remain. She has written to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid and the MP for Dumfries and Galloway, Alister Jack.

The United Nations' Special Rapporteur had this to say on how the UK Govt approaches poverty: “British compassion for those who are suffering has been replaced by a punitive, mean-spirited, and often callous approach." https://t.co/vYdESbMuyV